To join two pieces of metal together, various techniques and processes such as brazing, adhesive bonding, mechanical bonding (e.g., bolting), soldering, and/or welding can be used. For some applications, high-quality consumer products such as golf clubs, brazing processes can be more advantageous than other bonding techniques and processes. With the ability to join two dissimilar metals (e.g., steel and titanium), brazing processes can provide more material options for product designs. Having the ability to join two dissimilar materials allows lighter or heavier materials to be joined together, thereby allowing a product's designer to have greater design options to tailor a product's performance characteristics, for example, the center of gravity and/or moment of inertia of a golf club head. Typically, a brazed joint can provide a well-finished, clean appearance of the two joined pieces of metal (e.g., a brazed joint may not require additional grinding or finishing). In contrast to other bonding techniques and processes, brazing processes may result with less burn through, if any, in thin-wall structures (e.g., sheet metal). Further, a brazed joint can withstand severe vibration and shock better than other types of joints because the brazed joint is typically stronger than the two pieces of metal being bonded together. Thus, brazing processes can be well-suited for manufacturing golf club heads.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction. Descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques can be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring a golf club method and article. Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures can be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of the various exemplary embodiments of a golf club head and method of manufacture. When used, the same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements.
The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the exemplary embodiments of a golf club head and method of manufacture described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms “contain,” “include,” and “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but can include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, system, article, or apparatus.
The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “side,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of a golf club head and method of manufacture described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as directly or indirectly connected in a physical, mechanical, or other manner.